A hardwood casket frequently has externally mounted metal hardware. The metal hardware is both functional and ornamental in that it provides a secure mount for a handlebar which is used in lifting, transporting, and maneuvering the casket, i.e., by the pallbearers. Furthermore, the metal hardware offers an attractive and visually appealing contrast to the hardwood casket.
When hardwood caskets having standard metal hardware are cremated, the metal hardware is a source of problems. The external hardware on caskets are often die cast parts which include zinc as a major component. During cremation, the zinc in the metal hardware tends to damage and deteriorate the fire brick of the crematory. Furthermore, during the cremation process the melting and decomposition of the zinc can yield undesirable gases. As a result, the cremation industry is making attempts to eliminate the production of these gases during the cremation process.
The use of metal hardware on caskets presents other problems during cremation. During the cremation of caskets having metal hardware, incidental human remains such as bone fragments tend to sear and attach to the molten metal presenting disposal problems and thereby further complicating the cremation process. Specifically, external metal casket hardware which is stamped steel does not melt during the cremation process but does sear to bone fragments. Due to its mass, the stamped steel hardware is a nuisance to remove from the remains when it is still hot from the cremation process.
Additionally, the ornamental and functional metal hardware used on hardwood caskets can be expensive to manufacture and incorporate into the casket.
Complicating matters is the requirement that after the casket lid has been closed and locked, for example, subsequent to the memorial service, the casket may not be unlocked and the lid opened to remove the external casket hardware by removing the fasteners which can only be accessed from the interior of the casket.
It is therefore desirable to have externally mounted metal casket hardware which is both attractive and functional but which does not present the problems currently associated with the cremation of caskets having the rather expensive metal hardware components.